


Feraltale (a series of connected oneshots)

by Sketchy-Vore (DragonLovingGirl6), Sketchy_Vore



Category: Feraltale AU - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Endosoma, Feral Monsters, Feraltale AU, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, I know a lot of people don't agree with this stuff, More tags might be added, Non-fatal vore, Platonic vore, Please Don't Hate Me, Protective vore, Soft Vore, Vore, endo, everyone is basically feral and wild okay, feral Papyrus, feral Sans, mentions of mild abuse, not the sexual kind, safe vore, wild monsters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-19 09:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10637484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonLovingGirl6/pseuds/Sketchy-Vore, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sketchy_Vore/pseuds/Sketchy_Vore
Summary: Within the multiverse, there are some AUs with a rather...'wild' side, and a lot of its monsters don't really know what to think of humans. Quite a few of them aren't too eager for them to come down and shake up their mundane, peaceful lives. But luckily, some of them might just warm up to the idea.(Story contains safe vore/vore elements, you've been warned)





	1. (1) Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Relax guys, this story isn't all vore. There is quite some normal stuff in this; like friendships, hurt and comfort, family (especially the found kind, I love those!). I promise, this isn't just pure indulgence into a....well, not quit fetish to me? Can we make a name for the platonic version of a fetish?

I liked the older female behind the gate.

 

It made my boring days a bit more bearable. Sitting there trying to communicate without body language, or sometimes just vocalizing randomly. Or bringing stuff from both our sides of the closed doors, going out all the way to hotland with the hope that a lavastone might match up to the sweet scent of cooked food. I love my brother very much, but it’s nice to interact with someone that was more...mature, someone wiser, that took the role of a caretaker so easily.

 

And that’s why sometimes I would just sit there all day, crooning and hoping she would feel better again soon.

 

I was not unfamiliar with her on a really bad day, but that didn’t make it any less painful to hear. Human children would fall, she’d care for them, they went, they died. And every time she’d sit there and wail her anguish to the empty halls. It never failed to tug at my heartstrings.

 

And still I didn’t get how they could make her this heartbroken. I knew humans could be cruel creatures. Luckily most of them stayed relatively passive if they weren’t confronted, but if things got hard they could change in the blink of an eye, turning to violence to keep themselves out of trouble. Even most of the children that the lady had loved so much came to an end with dust on their hands.

 

But I guess it couldn’t be helped. If the next one was nice at least when not provoked, I’d just have to make sure they weren’t. Old lady happy, more monsters alive, everyone wins, yay!

 

And that’s how I found myself teleporting to the forest of high trees surrounding the entrance to the ruins at the screeching of the door’s ancient hinges.

 

It was a small thing that came through, barely even 10 winters old. That was an okay start—humans this age  _ could _ lash out, but rarely as cruelly or harshly as adolescents and young adults.

 

I slowly snuck closer. I’d have to act quickly, immobilize them as quickly as possible so they wouldn’t be able to attack, then assess the damage. Closer still. They looked nervous and were glancing this way and that like scared prey. Closer…

 

I rushed forward as silently as I could, swirled the human around and pushed them down into the thick layer of snow. Despite being so vigilant they were completely caught off guard, letting out a startled cry that was abruptly cut off as a paw as big as their chest forced the air out. I eased my grasp a little so they could breathe, but kept the sharp tips of my claws dug into the frozen earth beneath.

 

Their tiny chest quickly started heaving as their eyes first focused on the paw pinning them down, then moved up to my face. I felt a little prickle at the back of my neck as they continued to stare, but suppressed the instinctive snarl to the unintended ‘challenge’, instead focusing on their hands and quickly beginning to sniff for dust. The kid might look okay, but I had to know how many they-

 

My thoughts stopped as I was unable to find a speck of dust, nor even the dry smell of it. I tugged at their sleeves and sniffed closer, practically pressing my face into their wrists. Then I looked into their soul, where I found none of the guilt or corruption that murder caused.

 

Nothing. No smell of death, no stray specks from lashing out, nothing hidden in their soul or between the threads of their knitted sweater. There was, however, despair, fear and loneliness there; nothing extreme, but still quite noticeable. I had only known of one other human like this, and their kindness had gotten them killed in the fires of Hotland.

 

Now I felt a little bad I jumped the human like that. I could feel them shaking and trying not to panic too much under my paw. I slowly let go of them and sat back so they could have some space, but they didn’t even try to get up, just moving their head to keep an eye on me.

 

Okay, I might have been a little too overwhelming. What did humans like to make them relax? Fluffy things maybe? I ran a careful magical current along my neck and shoulders, making the fur on my coat stand up slightly before smoothing the surface, trapping air underneath and making it seem bigger and softer. The human stayed on the ground, staring back and only eyeing the fur fleetingly.

 

Well, that didn’t work like I wanted to. Maybe flash my teeth, humans really seemed to like doing that when they were happy? I sat up a bit straighter so my mouth wouldn’t be hidden and pulled my grin as wide as it could go, but quickly dropped it when I saw the human nervously clench their fists. Darn it, not good. Maybe it looked too much like a snarl. Better not try again, I could make it worse if I couldn’t remember the exact structure of human facial expressions.

 

Maybe try something along the lines of acting like young, or maybe a pet? Humans usually seemed to fall for that one. I produced a high coo that I hoped sounded comforting and tilted my head slightly. Now the little human just looked confused. They still weren’t making any move to relax or get up though.

 

Their condition had changed slightly though. Their shaking had gotten worse, and their teeth were chattering. I only needed a quick glance to figure out why. The snow around them had melted and it now drenched their sweater. Little thing was probably freezing.

 

I could fix that.

 

I slowly scooted forward again so I was closer, causing the human to flinch and try to make themself smaller, but they still didn’t try to run. I reached out to grasp the front of their now sodden sweater and pulled, making them sit up in front of me. Now that the sweater was pulled tight around their body I finally realized that it was way too large for the kid, they must be so thin underneath.

They were also shaking in fear now, better take them in so they could relax. I carefully sized the kid up with my eyes—tiny, even compared to Papyrus. I had been small myself when I had to start taking care of Papyrus on my own, and as we grew together I have never been bigger than 2 and a half times his size. Compared to that this kid would give no trouble, three mouthfuls at the most.

 

I leaned down until my mouth was right over the kid’s head, their wide eyes looking warily up at me. Partially opening my jaws I licked their forehead a little then opened up as wide as I could, fitting my mouth over their upper body. They immediately froze as I lightly closed my mouth around them. Good. I gently let my tongue slither around their waist and legs, using it to keep them steady and away from my sharp fangs.

 

They tasted a little strange; sweet, though also cold against my tongue (heh, like a nicey pop). It was mostly the texture of their skin that worried me. They were dry in my mouth, like they were covered in thin sand paper. Didn’t that hurt them?

 

I quickly threw my head back and swallowed hard. It was a rather dizzying move, but it gave the quickest results as I felt the kid slide down up to their middle. I could feel them flinch though, maybe I had been a little rough with them.

 

Oh well…one more swallow and the kid was-

 

The tiny form gave a violent spasm in my throat. It almost made me spit them back out but another, more forceful swallow restrained the movement and dragged them down. What startled me more was the shrill, panicked cry that came from my chest, right before the human dropped into my pouch. Then, it was as if something snapped.

 

The child suddenly started struggling and flailing around as if their life depended on it. All the while there was a steady stream of disoriented words coming from them. Why were they so scared? They were okay, right? Babybones are supposed to feel safe and relaxed inside a pouch! So why were they panicking like that?

 

Maybe their parents hadn’t taken them in that often, it would explain the loneliness and anxiety I saw before. But still, even then they should know they were okay. Unless they were scared because I was a stranger. I had given them a pretty bad fright after all, but even if I did they should know pouches were sa-

 

Wait. Humans don’t have pouches. Humans have functional, uncontrollable digestive systems like practically every other creature on the surface.

 

Oh...oh no…...no no no no no no no no no no no no! I didn’t! I would never! I couldn’t even—I wasn’t gonna hurt the kid! But they were reasoning on what they knew. No wonder they were so scared, poor thing thought I was gonna…

 

It was now that I finally started to decode the sounds they were making as desperate pleas for their life.

 

I felt a little sick. That would really be a cruel way to die. And it was what my little guest was fearing right now. I wanted to tell them it was going to be okay, that I wasn’t going to hurt them—that is, if I could speak. The best I could do was imitate sounds and languageless voices. And it didn’t seem like the best idea to do that now, I might freak them out even more. So I guess I was gonna have to figure this out now too.

 

My first thought was to spit them back out so they were out of the frightening situation, but that thought was quickly scratched off the list—they might try to run or fight to get away. And if they did they could freeze. It wouldn’t be much trouble to sniff them out again and if they were cold and exhausted they might be calmer and more desperate for warmth. But that would be cruel. Definitely a no.

 

Then I’d have to try something else.

 

Maybe purring or something, if I remember correctly humans liked that too. It might not instantly relax them, but it would give some soothing background noise. So I allowed a low rumble to vibrate through my chest. Their fighting seemed to grow more intense for a few seconds, but then it quickly went back to the more muted struggling from before.

 

I kept that up as they continued to flail around. I wished I could do more, but as long as they weren’t paying better attention or I knew human behaviors better, I couldn’t think of anything else.

 

So I just sat there, gently purring to the kid and feeling them struggle. It wasn’t unpleasant, far from it. When Pap and I were younger, there were some nights on which my little brother refused to sleep. I, however, would be completely spent and didn’t want to put up with his energy anymore. So I’d take him in and keep him restrained and warm, until he had finally lost enough energy to sleep. So I had come to love the feeling of my little brother shoving and kneading the insides of my pouch.

 

The terrified crying and pleading kept me from fully enjoying it though.

 

It took a surprisingly long time for the kid to wear out, I guess fear for their life gave them extra determination. After about 15 minutes however the kid was lying still, only little shifts and whimpers being a sign they were still scared.

 

Now I thought it was okay to try something new. I had seen humans trying to interact with monsters that refused to fight, and for some reason they were really fond of using their hands to physically contact things.

 

I gently put my phalanges to the place where I could feel the kid’s shoulders and pressed down so they could feel it. They immediately jerked away, but the slick inside of my pouch caused them to slip and flop back down.

 

Okay Sans, you just startled them, same would have happened if you had moved the pouch itself. Humans usually liked to touch others’ head, back and shoulders. Let’s try that again.

 

I gently set my hand back where it had been before and repeated the action. The kid flinched and went completely stiff. I steadily started rubbing circles, up between the shoulders, slowly down the back and up again.

 

Slowly I could feel their muscles loosening up again, don’t know if it was because they finally relaxed or if they were just too tired to stay scared. Either way was okay with me.

 

I kept it up for a while before I got up and walked back to my lookout point. They barely even reacted at the movements. As I went to sit back down they shifted a bit before flopping back down onto their side with a deep sigh. There was a heartbreaking kind of finality to the movement, making me whine softly. A soft, high voice answered.

 

“Please, I don’t want to die...I’m scared.”

 

Oh jeez, rip my soul out and tear it to shreds, it would've hurt less. I really wished I could just tell the kid it was going to be okay, but as it was now I couldn’t do anything except show my intent and give them time to figure it out.

 

I gently cooed back at their words, just to show I wasn’t forgetting they were there. They just gave a little sniffle and curled up tighter. We were both silent after that, except for my continuous low purr, until the kid’s breathing finally slowed into soft, sleepy snores.

 

On top of the pile of snow I called a lookout, I curled around my round belly and the tiny being inside. Damn, I was really feeling sorry for them, poor little thing. I don’t know what they went through for their soul to seem so broken, but I wasn’t going to send them back to that.

 

Nope, mine now! Sorry old lady, if you want the babybones you’re gonna have to share!

 

I guess I still had to introduce them to Papyrus, but I knew my bro would be overjoyed to have a new playmate and pseudo-relative. He was cool like that. I guess I should go home for that though, if I wanted to get some rest and clean the kid before Paps got back.

 

* * *

 

It was warm and damp, but also very soft when I woke up. And even though my clothes felt kind of soggy, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Where was I? My bed was a lot dryer than this.

 

I tried to crack open my eyes. Sleep was still struggling to keep them closed, but the light around me was a soft, low blue. What? This wasn’t...?

 

No, this isn’t home. I jumped down the mountain. And there was this nice, sad goat-like creature that kept dragging me back. And then…! I was suddenly wide awake.

 

The horned skeleton! I got eaten! And I was still here!

 

Okay, easy Frisk! You slept, in fact you slept IN….and better than I could remember having slept in the past few months.

 

If that much time passed, I should have been dead or at least horribly and painfully maimed by acid right now. But I wasn’t. I was maybe a little sodden, but also warm and very comfortable...except for maybe the knowledge I was inside a stomach. But it hadn’t seemed like the big guy was torturing me for fun, and if I had been just food I’d definitely be dead now.

 

Slowly I allowed my muscles to relax again. I stretched out my arms to feel the squishy dome above my head. It was soft, just like the tissue beneath me; kinda hard to compare to anything I knew but… Imagine if you took a beanbag, but filled with warm water and made it from a very stretchy and jelly-like plastic, so it was bouncy and comfortable to sink into. And to make the surface smooth and frictionless it was lathered with a sort of gooey slime. It felt kinda funny.

 

It was only when I heard a low cooing sound all around me that I realized I had been rubbing and kneading the flexible surface underneath my hands. I quickly pulled them back, a ‘caught with the cookie jar’ fear shooting throughout my body and an embarrassed blush heating my face. Was he mad I had been touching him?

 

...I guess it was the contrary, since the next thing I heard was an almost wistful sounding sigh. Then I started sliding around as the space I was in tilted, accompanied by a loud, rumbling yawn. I guess he must have sat up or rolled over. Then I felt the pressure on my back return, the same one from before I fell asleep.

 

The first time I had thought he had been rubbing his belly out of enjoyment for a good meal. But even back then I had eventually started to realize he hadn’t been randomly rubbing the surface of his belly. He had been focusing on my back and shoulders, as if he was trying to pet or comfort me.

 

I swallowed my nervousness and asked: “You’re...not gonna hurt me?”

 

The monster around me gave pleased little rumble, the pressure of his paw moving to the back of my head and resting there. I stayed still, taking in the low, content purrs, the enormous paw resting against the back of my head, even the way this monster’s stomach was practically cradling me.

 

“O-okay then.”

 

The paw behind my head gave another gentle brush before dropping away, a deep sight mixed with a low purr rumbling all around me.

 

Suddenly a loud, high pitched screech echoed around me, I know it wasn’t my host since it sounded a little muffled, but turns out it was someone he knew. The sound he made back was an unmistakable trill, even though it sounded as if it had been made by a huge cat. A tiger maybe?

 

I just sat still as the two monsters communicated, at first the other one sounded upset but after some sounds and calm movements from my host, the other monster’s chirps turned curious.

 

Then there was a sudden pressure from the walls all around and I felt my panic rising again, until I suddenly breathed in a huge gulp of fresh air. Wait, was I...?

 

I turned part of my sleeve inside out to rub the slime out of my face, opened my eyes to look down...and shuddered. There was a translucent blue tongue wrapped around my waist, holding me inches from enormous, dagger-like teeth. And looking past, I saw my legs still trapped within the monster’s throat.

 

A low trill drew my attention to his eyes, which unlike every sharp angle on his face, looked friendly and soft.

 

I felt a large claw grasping the back of my sweater and pull me the rest of the way out with a soft, wet ‘pop’. Next I was lowered in the bend of a soft, jacket padded arm, the other joined to cradle me to an enormous chest.

 

I looked up at the monster again, feeling just a tad nervous now. He looked right back and tilted his head with a little coo, before turning his head...up.

 

I slowly turned my head and finally laid eyes on what I guess was the other monster the big skeleton had been ‘talking’ to.

 

A lanky, even  _ bigger _ skeleton.

  
....Oh boy...


	2. (2) Hugs?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When caring for a different species than your own, it is important to remember that you might not show affection in quite the same way. Things that might be nice and cute to you, could look strange or even scary for someone else.

Having the kid around was a little more… stressful than I had expected.

 

There must be something I was doing wrong, because the kid just wasn’t relaxing. Not around me, and definitely not while they had Papyrus’s attention.

 

I couldn’t really blame them for that though, Paps was a bundle of nervous energy around the kid.

 

As I expected he was overjoyed to meet a new friend. What I didn’t expect was for the kid to be so jumpy. I think my brother’s enthusiasm scared them. As soon as he had come too close the kid they pushed his face away and tried to escape, almost causing me to drop them. After that things were pretty tense between the both of them.

 

I knew he didn’t mean to, but Papyrus constantly put the kid on edge. He wanted to play with them, but he also wanted to give the kid space. This caused him to try and approach the kid, only to scurry away as soon as their eyes as much as widened.

 

I understand what he was trying to do, but if he didn’t approach the kid with calm confidence the kid wouldn’t relax either.

 

Things weren’t that much better between us. I made it a point to take the kid in as often as possible, keeping them nice and warm inside my pouch to show I cared about them. At first things seemed to go alright. I’d often feel their tiny hands fluttering around to steady themself, but they never thrashed around or panicked as badly as that first time.

 

Once they got used to it, however, I could tell something was wrong.

 

The way they’d lay down, it didn’t seem like they were entirely relaxed. Rather they seemed…downhearted, irritated even. I wasn’t sure if I preferred this over the human child’s panic and desperation, but I knew for sure this was still far from how I wanted the kid to feel.

Something that likely didn’t help was that I wouldn’t let the kid leave the den. I wanted to let them, going out to play and exercise was good for little babybones. I wanted them to leave this place with the thought that they had a safe home here to return to, but right now the kid’s mind was set on escape.

They were so weary the kid wouldn’t even sleep with ease. That first evening I’d tried to gently pull the kid against me to sleep. Halfway through the night I woke up to find them huddled up in another corner of the den. The next day both Pap and I went to the dump to look for anything soft we could find. Pillows, loose stuffing, blankets, everything was stuffed into an empty duvet cover. And it was only tied shut when I was satisfied that I couldn’t feel the ground when I sunk my paws into it.

We put it in the kid’s corner with one of our blankets (so they could get used to our smell) for them to sleep on. They looked more comfortable that way.

They slept alright and they ate the food we offered, though nearly not as much as I’d like, but they still didn’t seem at ease whenever we got anywhere near them.

It was as if there was an uneasy truce between the three of us.

 

* * *

 

It was on a lazy afternoon that I woke up to the kid sitting on their improvised nest. Papyrus seemed to have gone outside already, so they were just fiddling with the corners of their blanket. They looked bored, and lonely.

 

I sat up with a stretch and an audible yawn. I could see their shoulders tense up at that. I stood and slowly walked over, leaving my slippers by the nest and my claws to click against the stone floor.

 

I knew the kid didn’t seem that comfortable around us, but letting them know where we were was better than accidentally sneaking up on them.

 

The kid was almost entirely curled up into a tiny ball as I reached them. I reasoned that the kid would eventually figure out that we wanted to be their friends, but there still wasn’t any progress. Maybe I just needed to be a bit more patient, but I’d keep on trying if it meant this kind human would be happy one day.

 

I sat down behind them and gently started to lick at their hair and neck. They held completely still, staying in that curled up position. I ignored it, they usually unwound after a few minutes.

 

I say usually, because I suddenly felt their body jerk with a sob. I maneuvered around a bit so I could see their face, stained with tears from what up till now had been silent crying. More than a little alarmed I moved closer, licking at their cheek.

 

The only warning I got was a tense of muscles and a surge of  _ anger  _ from the child in front of me, before tiny hand shoved harshly at my face. I immediately pulled back to look at the small human, my eyes wide with shock. They were staring back at me; body tense, teeth bared in what looked almost like a snarl, their eyes bright and vivid like a roaring fire.

 

“Okay! I get it!” They suddenly screamed out. “I taste good and you can’t get enough of it! That’s why I’m still alive isn’t it?! You just can’t make up your mind and end it! Why won’t you just decide already and get it over with?! I c-can’t take this! I c-c-can’t g-go on this way-y-y! I-I-I-I…..I….”

 

They looked up at my face as I stared in shock. I had never heard the kid say this much since the first time I took them into my pouch. Up till now it had just been small mumbles of ‘thank you’ when we offered them something to eat.

 

At the sight of my shocked, unmoving face, their protests stopped, jaw moving up and down without sound. Then their head lowered, the fire I saw before snuffed out in an instant and leaving behind an empty husk.

 

“I-I’m sorry. You’re taking care of me and as long as I’m a burden on you I should be a good-....I should be good and obey.”

 

I was completely struck down by the child’s words. They…...they thought I….

 

Suddenly I felt nothing but rage towards the one that made this CHILD believe that they were nothing but a task they were forced to take care of. That told a KID straight to their face that they should shut up about their opinions and do what they were told. That taught this kid that there was no selfless kindness, only debts to repay.

 

My claws started digging into the stone floor as another thought came to me; How often had this kid asked for help and needed support, only for selfish people to dismiss their suffering, to push it back down under the surface as they struggled for a breath of air they couldn’t get? How many times had they dragged themselves back under like they had now so others wouldn’t get angry?

 

My fury was quickly smothered by yet another realization.

 

I had been such an idiot. All this time I had tried to comfort this kid like a monster would, like my instincts told me I should. They were a  _ human _ , with human instincts and behaviors. I should have focused on that! I felt panic and helplessness crawl up my spine as I realized how much I had intentionally ignored and forgotten in the past, just because I had come to see humans as a shitty race in general. 

 

There was one thing I knew kinda helped though.

 

I looked up to see them still looking down, hands wringing nervously in their lap. Slowly I extended a paw behind their back and softly lay it there. Their entire body gave a violent spasm in fear. I gave them a moment to process the situation before I slowly started rubbing circles, carefully adding a bit more pressure until their body lightly moved with it. I kept going as I prepared for some kind of reaction, relaxation, a discharge, any way the kid would get rid of the tension.

 

I didn’t have to wait that long. First a few stray tears started to fall from their eyes, but at my lack of a reaction (or protest) they suddenly broke out in ugly sobs. They were still holding back though. They shouldn’t do that, they should be getting all that stress and frustration out of their body. But I had no idea how to tell them it was okay to do so.

 

As the tears kept coming and their hands weren’t dry enough to remove them anymore the kid picked their blanket back up and pressed it to their face, rubbing until their eyelids were red and irritated. Then they pulled it to their chest, holding it close and curling around it. I’d seen them do this a few times before. Especially at night before sleeping they would ball up the fabric and hold it just like tha-

 

Wait, is this a human thing!?

 

I quickly focused, mind racing to figure this out. The way they curled around the blanket looked somewhat protective in nature, yet their tiny balled up form also made them look like they were looking for safety. Comfort maybe?

 

A quick peek into their soul confirmed that thought. Tension would slowly build up in their body and then they’d squeeze the blanket a bit tighter, releasing that same tension in small doses.

 

So, this was helping them a bit. Would it be okay if I...?  Maybe it would. I mean, it still kinda looked like it could be used protectively. Maybe it was a thing that, as humans grew up and became stronger, turned from a plea for comfort to a way of giving it. Well, guess this was the only thing I had now, I wanted to at least try and risk it.

 

The hand that was still rubbing their back stopped, the other one moving under their legs to support them. As I lifted them the distress felt like it was getting a bit worse, their body going still as their eyes focused on my teeth.

 

I didn’t lift them higher than my chest though, gently laying their upper body against my rib cage and gently wrapping one, and then the other arm around them. I kept my arms loosely around them so they could push me off in case I was wrong, but firm enough so they wouldn’t slip from my grasp. They seemed a bit surprised at first, but the waterworks started again pretty quickly.

 

First it was a few silent tears, but after a few little sobs they surprised me. I loosened my arms a bit when they started to wiggle and they quickly turned around in my arms. Then they grasped my sweater with both hands and buried their face into the thick fabric.

 

I looked down in awe as they willingly clung to me, and my eyes widened even further as they finally seemed to let loose, sobs turning to wails. Broken words and sentences came tumbling out, admitting how scared they were, that they didn’t know what was going on or what to do anymore.

 

Most of it was lost to me in sniffles and shokes, but I listened as they poured out their soul—quite literally, the stress finally seemed to be leaving their body faster than it could build up.

 

My soul was aching at this kid’s turmoil, but at the same time I was so happy I finally had  _ something _ that allowed me to help them. Sure, doing this felt a little weird, but… it wasn’t that different from putting the kid in my pouch. I mean, they were close and warm, only it was my arms keeping them safe and secure instead of my magic.

 

Heh, humans and their hands. Should have figured that they’d simulate anything using them.

 

I sat there for—as humans would put it—‘what felt like hours’, but I felt pretty content. Especially as the kid started to calm down, still clinging to me. Their eyes were red and they looked dazed, but I could feel them slumping down against my chest. I wanted to stay like that, just let the kid drift off without disturbing them, but there were some things to set straight first.

 

I slowly lowered the kid, their hands slowly releasing my sweater as I sat them down on the ground. As soon as they sat comfortably on their nest, they looked up at me again.

 

I wouldn’t deny the kid had a nice flavor, but that wasn’t the reason I did what I did. At this point I couldn’t focus on such a selfish goal. Right now I had to make sure the kid felt safe around me, I didn’t care which methods I had to use.

 

Making sure I had their attention I stuck my tongue out and lightly touched the tip with my claw. The human started wringing their hands again. I quickly held my forearm to my face, licked along the radius and rubbed it against my forehead for good measure. At the human’s confused look I repeated the gestures; pointing out my tongue and licking my arm.

 

“Erm, the licking was….grooming?”

 

I perked up at the kid’s words, humming at their understanding. Their face still betrayed some confusion and uncertainty though. I guess that was understandable. Grooming wasn’t something inherent to our kind, except for maybe the lining of my hood we had no hair to groom. I had picked it up from the furred creatures here in Snowdin and thought that maybe the kid would like it since they had hair on their head. Turns out that had been a wrong assumption.

 

I moved on to the next explanation anyway. I sat straight, sticking out my belly and light patting it. Hoping to ease kid’s nerves, I quickly wrapped my arms around my chest like I had while holding them and tried to look as soft and content as possible, rocking from side to side a bit.

 

“And the….e-eating thing….is like hugs?”

 

I tilted my head. Obviously they were comparing ‘taking them in’ to something. I think they meant the holding thing, but I wasn’t absolutely sure if that last word-

 

“Uh, hugs...that’s the….”

 

They spread their arms out slightly before clamping them around themself, even mimicking the rocking. I perked up with a happy chirp. Okay, hugs, the comforting holding thing is called ‘hugs’, I’ll make sure to remember that.

 

I wrapped my arms around my belly with a happy purr, once again imitating a ‘hugs’ but around my pouch.

 

“O-oh…”

 

There was understanding in the child’s eyes now, then a bit of relief. Their eyes dropped down to their lap, where their hands lay still. I could feel a sigh leaving my body through my nose—thank Delta, they understood. Things were going get better now, we’d just let it sink in and then the kid could start trusting us a little more, I could officially introduce them to Papyrus and then they could play outside and-

 

My attention was drawn back to the kid as their fingers twitched nervously. They didn’t look scared, but there was clearly some nervousness and reluctance on their face.

 

Okay then.

 

I reached out for the kid and picked them up. They gave a startled little twitch, but they didn’t struggle. They were nervously eying my maw again though, mouth pulling into a thin line. I lay the kid against my chest instead, lightly nuzzling their hair with my snout.

 

I knew the kid wouldn’t like to be swallowed again just yet. I had kind of hoped they would, but I didn’t count on it—I could use ‘hugs’ for now instead. Maybe the kid would never like being taken in, but they were a human, I had to respect that. It was more important they would start to feel happy again right now, and I’d use ‘hugs’ for that as long as I’d need to.

 

The kid stayed still for a few moments, then their hands reached up for my shoulders and pulled their small body up. After a bit of wiggling and shifting they finally settled, laying their head on my shoulder and nuzzling into the fluffy lining of my hood. And then, with a little sigh, they finally relaxed.

  
Welp, I could  _ definitely _ live with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote 3 chapters up till now, after this things will go slower.....a lot slower.


	3. (3)Pap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is only peace in a household if all members can get along (or at least tolerate each other). Luckily, Papyrus is pretty easy to get along with, if you want to.

Of all the things I expected to come home to, this wasn’t one of them. That didn’t mean it wasn’t a nice surprise.

 

Sans was sleeping (nothing new) with that tiny not-monster of his snuggled up against his chest, tiny head resting on his shoulder (very new!).

 

Sans had been working for days to gain the tiny thing’s trust, harder than I’d seen him work for anything for a long, long time. Maybe it didn’t seem like much work, but it was quite impressive for something he did without being pressured. So I felt my soul make a little jump in my chest to finally see some progress. Maybe he would finally feel more encouraged to do stuff again, that lazybones had far too many nap times.

 

And it looks like I was gonna have to end this one as well. Too bad, they looked so content.

 

I slowly walked over towards the duo and lightly tapped my brother’s shoulder, the one that wasn’t occupied by a tiny head. His eyes blinked open slowly, looking a little bleary. When he was awake though I made a head movement towards the entrance, trying to look stern. He had a job to do after all. My glare almost faltered as he sagged, letting out a wistful sigh as he lowered the not-monster into their nest. This woke them up as well, evident by the way they stirred and rubbed at their eyes with their stubby paws. Sans gave them a tiny pat on the head before finally sauntering out of the den.

 

I guess Sans really didn’t want to go. I couldn’t really blame him, especially now that the tiny creature had actually looked so relaxed in his presence. But what has to be done has to be done.

 

I looked back over to the nest, expecting for the young not-monster to have gone back to sleep...only to see them sitting there wide awake, little eyes staring up at me.

 

I immediately froze under their gaze and they didn’t break it either. Well, this was kinda awkward. I knew by now that the little thing wasn’t trying to challenge me, I guess it’s just a nervous tactic to prevent me from attacking or something. Same thing might work with Undyne. But nonetheless it still made a nervous shudder crawl up my spine.

 

I broke eye contact and walked over to the ‘stove’. I didn’t want to accidentally undo Sans’ work by scaring his little friend. Better to just let them rest for now and make something nice to celebrate, encourage social behavior with a special reward. Maybe I could make some spaghetti, I bet our guest would like that.

 

I didn’t cook that often. Cooking wasn’t common among monsters, mostly because we had to make all the ingredients ourselves. Premade ingredients like noodles or even flour were hard to get by, and I was lucky that my brother had enough connections with the capital that he could sometimes get those. So I prefer to reserve actual cooking for special occasions.

 

Though I had gotten some help from Undyne, I had had to figure out most of the techniques by myself. And I still hadn’t perfected my skills, but I bet I was the best cook you could find in the underground.

 

Our ‘stove’ was an improvisation of both Sans and I.

 

Our current Royal Inventor had come up with a surprisingly simple invention to make ice cold places like Snowdin a little more habitable. Lava from Hotland would flow through channels within the rock and be partially exposed inside our dens, giving just enough warmth to make the spaces warm and cozy.

 

When I expressed my desire to learn the culinary arts to Sans he’d spent quite a while looking for a metal plate in the dumps, one that could fit over the vein of lava that ran along the back of our den and wouldn’t melt under the heat.

 

I was startled from my preparations by a soft pitter patter. As the sound stopped I slowly turned my head down and to the side. There stood the tiny not-monster.

 

I froze once again, trapped into another staring competition.

 

The little creature was in the exact same state, but after a few more second they took a deep breath, wiggled their fingers, and forced their shoulders to relaxed. I did my best to follow suit. They were probably just curious, maybe they were even seeing if they could trust me too.

 

That thought made my soul leap with excitement, but I squished it down quickly. If I wanted this to stay an upward curve I should keep calm and not scare them away again.

 

So I turned back to my cooking, keeping my movements slow so they could see what I was doing. I could feel their eyes on me at all times and every time I glanced at them they were looking at my paws. I saw them flinch and felt a spike of nervous energy when I crushed and shredded vegetables beneath my claws, but other than that there didn’t seem to be any moment where they were actually uncomfortable around me.

 

After I was done I added the sauce to the noodles and set the pot close to the wall so it would stay warm. I took my time cleaning the bits of tomato from between my claws...maybe I was actually stalling a bit. Because if I didn’t have anything else to do, it would mean I might have to do something with our guest. What could I even do with a small creature that was still kinda scared of me?

 

Still scrubbing my already clean paws, I looked around the room from the corner of my eyes. The stove was definitely a no: Creatures with skin tended to be very heat sensitive. Any of the nests wasn’t an option either, I refused to let our new den mate get as lazy as my brother! They had been doing so little already anyways.

 

Next, my eyes fell on the large chest next to our own nest. Yeah...that might work.

 

Directing a little chirp at the little creature first, I made my way over to the crate and lifted its lid. In this box we kept stuff that wasn’t really of use to us in everyday life, but still looked interesting nonetheless. There were books, trinkets, broken toys, and even a few parts from different machines that Sans collected near the bottom. After a few seconds I could feel a tiny form joining me, curiously peering over the edge to see its contents.

 

I rummaged around for a bit to find something we could have some mindless fun with. I perked up as my claws brushed against something soft and fished it out: A fake animal, a bunny. I loved these! They were so soft and fun to softly squeeze. I had accidentally broken the first one I had found when I was a child, and had been very careful with these ever since.

 

I turned towards my small friend, cradling the plush toy on one hand and using the other one to brush its fur, showing them that they had to play gently with it before handing it over. They seemed to hesitate for a moment before they slowly reached out, only pulling it closer after I let go completely. They were staring at it with curious eyes, turning it over a few times and feeling it’s fur beneath their stump claws. They pulled it closer to their chest, wrapping their arms around it as they looked back up at me. Ah, Sans had been holding them like that too before I woke him up. Good to know.

 

Soft murmurs fell from their mouth, judging by the rhythm and sequence of sounds a shy expression of gratitude. Sans understood this language better than I did, but there still was this itch at the back of my memories, a vague sense of understanding. Maybe it was because we had learned this language when we were very small, but Sans just remembered more because he was older. But I bet that with more practice I too would be able to understand this little pup just fine.

 

I gave a slow blink in reply, showing that I was content, before turning back to the box. The little not-monster seemed to like that bunny, so maybe they would appreciate a little book. I couldn’t read it, and Sans had a lot of trouble doing so as well, but the pictures were always nice to look at. I let out a little coo as my eyes found the spine of the ‘Fluffy Bunny’ book.

 

I pulled it out with vigor and placed on my friend’s lap, lifting the cover and flipping the pages to show a picture of a bunny. I pointed between the picture and the fake version in their arms a few times to show it was the same animal. They only seemed to puzzle over it briefly before the corners of their mouth pulled up slightly.

 

I knew what that was! The pictures in the books always did that when they were happy!

 

Yes, I was doing it right! I, the Great Papyrus, had figured out how to bond with this strange creature! Wait until Sans get’s back, he’ll be so proud!

 

I enthusiastically turned back to the box, looking for more fake animals that were also in the book. A mouse, a bear, this bird didn’t look the same as the one in the book, but that was okay….wait, like in the books?

 

A slow rustle of pages made me turn around. The creature behind me slowly flattened the previous page and their eyes scanned over the new one, neatly and repeatedly flickering from left to right.

 

Wait, are they reading?

 

It looked like they were, and even faster than Sans could! Did those symbols even fully register in their brain? But if they could then I could....

 

I perked up and dropped all the stuffed toys into the whelp’s lap, then I turned back to the chest. It should be in here somewhere. I just needed to...aha, here we go!

 

I pulled out an old box. The corners were ripped and there were stains from dried, filthy water, but it’s content was in a kinda okay state. Some of the letters might be unreadable or even missing, and Sans never found keeping the box useful, but now it was all I needed.

 

I turned to box upside down, making first the lid and then it’s content fall on the floor with a loud clatter that made the not-monster flinch. I put the carton plate and the long wooden things back into the box and started flipping through the flat, wooden squares. They were pretty tiny so sometimes I had to hold them closer to my face, but after a few short minutes I had all the symbols I needed.

 

I slowly placed them down in the right order so the tiny creature could see them right and waited with excitement bubbling in my bones.

 

“Pap-papyrus?”

 

I let out a tiny squeal. They read it! They can read it!

 

“Wait, y-you can spell?”

 

Well, not exactly. Sans had shown me what a few of the words from books meant, though I couldn’t remember many. I do however remember that when we first found this box he had shown me which symbols made our names in this language. Those two words were clearest in my mind.

 

I decided to lift my shoulders a little, something else the pictures in the book did, but when they were unsure about something or didn’t really know. It was really the best way I could think to answer them.

 

I stretched out my arm and lightly tapped a claw at the word, then tapping it against my own sternum.

 

Their eyes went wide with realization as it sunk in. “So, you have names? A-and you are Papyrus?”

 

I was practically bouncing in place. They were so smart, they could figure things out so quick! No wonder my brother liked them. Speaking of my brother…

 

“And then, who is...uh…?” They made a shy little hand movement towards the entrance of the den.

 

I had a feeling they would ask. With an amused little huff I plucked away one of the symbols in my name and placed it with three others I had set aside.

 

* * *

 

I don’t know if I ever speed walked home before. Maybe not, because there were some monsters staring at me.

 

Why was I being so hasty? Did I want to get back to the kid now that they were a bit more open and relaxed? Maybe I was worried if they got into trouble with Pap? Was I hungry? Maybe all of the above.

 

As I went to push open the rust hinged door to our den I stopped at the sound of a soft, timid voice. The words were soft and steady, but there was intonation and playful changes of tone, almost like a child playing pretend.

 

Wait, was that the kid?

 

I slowly pushed against the slab of wood, peeking inside. My tail gave an excited little rattle at what I saw.

 

The kid was sitting there with a book on their lap, reading out loud, with a pile of stuffed animals on one side and another of odds and ends a little further away.

 

In one hand they held a plush bunny that they were gently bouncing up and down, as if it was hopping around. Opposite of them was Papyrus, sitting on his haunches with a teddy bear in hand and missing one of his boots. Said boot was placed neatly in between them and Papyrus was holding the bear up behind it, as if he was hiding it.

 

“‘But what is that? There, behind the tree! Is it a furry, brown paw I see?’ Fluffy bunny smiled and silently tiptoed over, slowly coming closer and closer.” The kid read out loud.

 

They slowly started to wobble the toy forward as they stage whispered in a sing song voice: “Tippy-toe-tippy-toe-tippy-toe-” Papyrus sat there slowly tensing up and his tail twitching in anticipation.

 

Oh my gosh, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life!

 

The kid made the bunny quickly peek behind the ‘tree’ to see the bear.

 

“‘Peekaboo, I found you!’”

 

Papyrus let out an excited little squeal as he made the bear come out. The kid lowered their voice, making it deeper to fit the bear as Papyrus warbled along, acting as if he was saying Brun’s lines. 

 

“‘You found me!’ Brun Bear cried out with a little cheer. ‘Let’s go to the fields and find Doris Dee-’“

 

Papyrus’ head snapped up as he finally noticed my presence, making the kid stop their narration to see why he had stopped.

 

I trilled at both of them in greeting, Pap trilled back as he lifted the bear and waved its fluffy paw at me. I was completely unprepared for how the kid greeted me though.

 

“Sans!”

 

I was startled by the sound of my spoken name. It was nothing more than a tiny little chirp but more than enough to make my soul leap up in my chest and skip. Wh-whu? How?

 

I looked up at Papyrus. He was the only one besides the kid that was here this whole time. How did he-?

 

Paps seemed to catch the confusion on my face as he reached over to the jumble pile, lifting up the top of a box. It had some water damage and the print had smudged a bit, but the word ‘sc-scr...ab-ble(?)’ could still be read.

 

Oh...my...gosh...Pap, you’re a genius!

 

My chest puffed up with pride over my little bro’s resourcefulness I walked over to see the tiny letters still spread out on the floor. It would be hard to make a good conversations since there were too few letters en some of them were missing from the box entirely (like the ‘G’, ‘E’, ‘T’ and ‘H’es) but I could make out ‘P py us’ with the ‘A’ and ‘R’ missing to spell out my name and ‘Bro  r’.

 

I purred as I ducked down to bump my forehead and crest to my brother’s, explicitly showing how proud I was. By the time I pulled back he was quite literally glowing with pride, soft orange light becoming visible underneath the bone surface of his face.

 

He jumped back on his feet with an energetic crow, flashed his teeth to the kid, and started marching to the stove...to heat up his pasta apparently. Looks like he had a treat planned for us. I turned to the kid to give them an apologetic look. They just looked a little confused.

 

My eyes drifted down towards the book the kid was still holding. Ah, ‘Peekaboo with Fluffy Bunny’, that was a classic. I might not like humans a lot, but I couldn’t deny they had some pretty decent creative skills. And everything in the book looked so cute too, Paps loved the anthropomorphic, talking animals.

 

...anthropomorphic…

 

I gently picked the book from the child’s lap and started thumbing through the pages. Of course, humans wouldn’t depict animals acting like animals. They would act like humans to make it easier for the kids.

 

I started studying the pages, making sure to absorb as much of the gestures and facial expressions as I could. Ah look, there is that wave thingy that...Paps just did with his bear.

 

Okay, it’s official. I might be the studied one in this house, but Papyrus was way smarter and more resourceful!

 

Guess I just got ‘schooled’. Heh.

 

* * *

 

Pasta wasn’t that bad. It’s wasn’t ‘good’, but it was definitely edible. And despite the slimy texture the kid seemed content enough eating it too. So now we were all getting ready for bed, feeling all satisfied and drowsy.

 

Pap, of course, had to walk like 20 circles before his spot was to his liking, and the kid had already shifted around a few times before curling up under their covers. But now everything was peace and quiet.

 

My mind had already started to drift off into sleep when Pap suddenly sat up, waking me up enough to hear a soft pitter patter and a dragging sound. I lifted my head as the sound stopped right next to our nest.

 

The kid was standing there, blanket over their shoulders, ‘nest’ dragged behind them and a hesitant look on their face.

 

“C-can I...sleep here tonight?”

 

Completely astonished by their words I shuffled around a bit, making some room in the middle of the nest. Papyrus quickly followed my lead with an excited chirp, giving them some space to lie down between the two of us.

 

The human child dragged their ‘nest’ over and with a little struggle pushed it into the little space we made. They crawled on top of it with nervous, fluttering hands and pulled their blanket on top of them. Hey stayed in a sitting position though.

 

I cooed softly, trying to coax the kid to tell what was wrong. They bit their lip for about a minute before saying something.

 

“P-please. Don’t d-do anything while I’m asleep?” The way they said it sounded like a question. As if they weren’t sure if it was a silly thing to ask, or as if they didn’t know  _ if _ there was something to worry about.

 

I just smiled and lay my head down, staying behind an invisible barrier that was the edge of their ‘nest’. Papyrus did the same with a little purr. I could understand if they needed privacy and security, some major barriers had been broken down today and I could imagine the kid being tired after so much fear and nervousness in one day.

 

After a smile and some hesitation they swiftly moved forward to surprise me with a quick ‘hugs’ around my face, then turned over to do the same to Paps. Without another word they pulled the blankets up over them and curled away into the stuffed fabric.

 

Pap and I shared a little look of amazement over their tiny form, and I could feel and see our faces slightly glow with magic, before we finally settled down as well.

 

“Oh.” I heard before I could drift off again. The human turned towards me with a little rustle, their face dusted pink.

  
“I almost f-forgot to t-tell you. I-I’m Frisk. My name is Frisk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, prepare to wait a bit longer for future chapters.


	4. (Bonus chapter 3-6) Open book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has something that makes them happy. Don't rain on their parade!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little thing for my birthday since chapter 4 is going so slow. This chapter can take place anywhere between chapter 3 and 6.
> 
> Heh, It's my birthday and you're getting a present, ain't that a deal?

Our collection of books had drastically increased over the past few days. When we were younger I’d often be more careful about what to give to Paps, destroying everything that contained anything other than happy animals. Thicker, pictureless books weren’t that much trouble, Pap wasn’t that fond of reading.

 

Now though, both my brother and I were collecting much more. I still made sure never to let him know it was about ‘humans’, but we did take more of the books containing them home. Papyrus recognized these creatures were the same species as Frisk, but the exact name for their kind was still a mystery to him.

 

All he (actually we) really wanted was to figure out more about the little kid and learn more about their habits. The childish picture books actually helped me to figure out what to get to take care of the kiddo’s hygiene. (You won’t believe how much ‘toothpaste’ and packaged ‘toothbrush’es humans throw away, so wasteful.)

 

Our box didn’t have enough room for the books  _ and  _ all the other stuff anymore, so we even got a bookcase. Some parts of the nice wood were chipped and dirty and a few shelves had to be replaced with random planks, but it quickly got a place right next to our nest.

 

And as per tradition we would pick a book and read it before bed. It started out as it did when we were kids, only now there was a tiny human child giggling with tears in their eyes as I tried to mimic everything happening in the text on the pages. Now though, it had turned into a narrated, one-man theater, with the kid reading out loud, as I played all the roles and Papyrus cooed happily from the nest.

 

I was still careful in some cases though. The last time humans had been in contact with monsters they weren’t too fond of us, and even their children’s books showed it. It was hard to find anything in which monsters weren’t depicted in a bad or frightening light. I wanted to give Papyrus and Frisk something fun to read with friendly monsters and brave kids that they could relate to.

 

This book didn’t have humans interacting with monsters but it had looked kinda promising. The monster on the cover was kinda scary, but it didn’t look too malicious, and the tiny mouse didn’t look like it was worried or afraid. In the middle of the night with only my eyes to light up the pages, it looked a lot different though. Literally everything in this book was trying to eat the mouse,  _ especially _ the monster. And on top of that the monster was pretty dumb, fooled easily by the tiny mouse's tricks. The book was kinda smart, playing on the ‘brain over brawn’ trope, but I didn’t think it would be something encouraging to Pap and the kid.

 

I felt my shoulders sagging. This is what humans think of us. Ugly, scary,  _ dumb  _ creatures, hiding under beds and in closets, that wanted nothing more than to scare and eat their children. No wonder the kid had been so scared. Not just because I was big and different, but also because it was ingrained in their brain from childhood that they should be scared of us. That we would eat them. I was surprised the kid was even trusting me at all after just swallowing them like that.

 

“Oh, I love that book!”

 

I was pulled out off my musing by the sound of a soft, enthusiastic whisper.

 

Papyrus didn’t sleep for long periods of time, but when he did he was out like a light (contrasting to my long, restless sleeps). Still, the kid insisted to be as quiet as possible when either of us slept.

 

I felt some kind of nervous fear tingling along my spine as the kid pushed themself up on my leg to stumble into my lap. After they situated themself to sit there comfortably their tiny hands reached up for the book.

 

I had half a heart to keep it out of their reach and ignore the problem, but if the kid already knew what the book was about there wasn’t really any point in doing so. Plus it would probably just worry them and make things worse. Humans might be practically deaf and blind, and their nose permanently blocked, but the kid was smart enough to notice things.

 

Reluctantly I lowered the book, tiny hands aiding to pull it down even faster as it came within their reach. As soon as the book was in their tiny lap they flipped to the first page. They smiled and wiggled their toes as they read through the text at a record speed, me only being fast enough to take a good look at the colorful and only slightly faded pictures. They stopped at a picture of the mouse talking to a fox, surrounded by pictures of a giant maw and claws.

 

“Ya know, in some ways you are a bit like the Gruffalo.” The child paused for a second and giggled as they realized they just rhymed. “I mean, you got ‘terrible tusks and terrible claws and terrible teeth in your terrible jaws’. And you also got horns, you’re pretty big and...you really want to e-eat me for one reason or another.”

 

I could tell from their tone that they wanted to joke about it, but that little waver in their voice and the nervous twitch around their eyes were a dead giveaway. My shoulder hunched up to hide my face in as much fur as possible.

 

I had done goofed, the kid just confirmed it; I was scary and hideous. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have cared much about how I looked, but for the kid’s sake I was starting to wonder.

Were they still scared of me? Not for the obviously anymore, but instead subtly? With how rounded and soft humans were Paps and I must look positively ghastly. No wonder they had stayed scared for so long. They had no idea what I wanted and practically their entire childhood had taught them that we were evil and treacherous.

How did we even have a chance to return to the surface? A second war didn’t really appeal to me anymore. I wasn’t stupid, humans were far stronger than us. It would only be a matter of time before we were chased right back underground or wiped from the face of the earth entirely.

And I knew that if Frisk was kind and friendly there were most likely even more humans that would be like that too, even if they hid it so they themselves wouldn’t be hurt. And knowing those same kind people would be thrown straight into a war they didn’t want, either to fight for their life or to die a ‘coward’. And in turn, peace wouldn’t be an option either if this was the kind of information fed into human brains from birth.

I was startled out of my mulling once again when I felt two small arms wrapping around my waist. I looked down to see the kid staring back up, hands going as far around me as they could reach and their chest pressed against my belly. They opened up their mouth as soon as they were sure they had my full attention.

“It’s okay, you might look kinda scary at first, but your personality is severely lacking in that ‘terrible’ department.”

I blinked in confusion before I put a small smile on my maw. There they went again, trying to reassure me and make me feel better. It kinda helped to sooth some of my worries, not all of them, but I wasn’t gonna complain.

The kid smiled back before turning to the book once more. I spent the next few minutes looking over their shoulder, following along with the pictures with a mouse, fox, owl, snake and the Gruffalo itself. At the picture where the furry monster ran away from the tiny mouse, Frisk paused.

“This is why I like this book so much; No one got hurt. Maybe the fox, owl, snake and Gruffalo didn’t get to eat anything, but they could have made the story so much more mean spirited. They could have made the Gruffalo go eat the other animals, or the mouse could have tricked the Gruffalo into some kind of trap so it couldn’t return to the woods, and his home. But instead the mouse just scared all the animals a little bit so he would be safe.”

Their head tilted back to lean against my belly, eyes meeting mine again. “Especially in the past stories with monsters were much more mean spirited. Knights would  _ kill _ all kinds of monsters to save the kingdom, or even just to impress a girl.” Their eyes gave an angry little roll at those last words. Kinda cute to see.

“Monsters have changed a lot the past few years, or at least the way humans look at them. Monsters used to represent the humans fear of the scary and unknown. I once read that humans created werewolves because they just couldn’t believe a human could be a senseless murderer, and there just had to be some kind of greater evil from unearthly origins.”

“But, as we became smarter and took the time to actually learn new things, we slowly started to get less scared of things. It’s going slow and there are still some things we need to learn to understand, but we’re getting better. And as humans changed, the way we see monsters changed too. In some cases it’s even a little ridiculous.”

I could feel my eyes widen and my eye-ridges creep up my forehead at their words, which actually seemed to excite the kid a bit.

“Yeah! I mean, look at dragons! In the past they were scary, flying creatures that poisoned water, burned villages and stole princesses and sheep. But right now practically everyone wants to hug a dragon!”

I squawked in surprise at that statement. It only made the kid even more enthusiastic, eyes bright and lively, arms moving around as they talked, it was getting kind of contagious.

“And you can see it in so many stories and books and games and movies too. Scary things are starting to get cool and even cute sometimes. There are still a lot of people that fight change and refuse to look at things in a new light and that wouldn’t like the idea of you guys existing. But Sans, there are so many reasons why many people would like and defend you guys!”

My breath caught in my throat. Sure, people that would rather want us gone were to be expected. But, many others of them on our side? Liking us?  _ Defending _ us? Really? Would they really?

“I mean, there are these people that try to prove the paranormal creatures are real. And seeing that many cryptids actually exist will make them so happy! And then there are creative people that’ll love you and the way you live for inspiration! People will want to draw you and write stories! And scientist! Those guys will be having the best day of their lives! And people that like fantasy and strange creatures and MAGIC! Oooooooh, everyone would be over the moon just knowing you exist! I can just see all the grownups picking up their dreams of doing telekinesis and throwing around energy beams again!”

“And there are people that want to protect rare creatures and nature! There are even people that would actually fight other people to make sure you’re safe! Many people can be mean to others, but there are also so many that’ll stand up for you and even want you to get rights! That’s actually what so many people are fighting for right now; so people that are different can be happy and safe. Some of them can go a little overboard though, so you have to be a little car-”

Their enthusing stopped as they turned their face to look up at me. The lively shine in their eyes didn’t fade out completely like the last time they were so expressive, but there was nervousness and caution, instantly making me feel a little bit deflated as well.

“Uhm, I’m sorry for rambling, am I boring you?”

Boring me? How could they when they were being so  _ vivid _ !?

I mentally checked my body language for anything the kid could interpret as boredom. My body was bent over them slightly, but my eyes had been on them at all times, trying to catch a bit of the glow that had been on their face just now.

Why would they think-?

I forced a soft smile onto my face as realization dawned on me. I brushed my claws through the kid’s hair a few times with a soft coo before pulling them into a hug, tucking their tiny head under my chin. Only then did I allow a grimace to appear.

Bastards, leave it to humans to take a kid’s enthusiasm. ...No, that wasn’t entirely true. The way they just talked; they believe in humans. Or at least, their ability to accept us. They really did. Their fellow humans created the things they were so excited about right now. Maybe, if they could make a kid so hopeful for the future, I could give most of the other humans the benefit of the doubt.

My attention was drawn down as the kid snuggled closer, yawning as they squeezed me softly.

Oh well, that’s for later. And that book could wait too.

At the moment, my mission was to see the kid rhapsodize like that again.


End file.
